


Another Chance

by knitekat



Category: Primeval
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Memory Loss, POV First Person, Potential Fit-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 19:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1829482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knitekat/pseuds/knitekat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick sits beside the bed of an unconscious Stephen and considers why he's there, even after Helen's revelations, and then Stephen wakes with memory loss.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kristen_Mara](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Kristen_Mara).



> Beta-ed by the wonderful Fredbassett.

I wasn't sure why I was even here, sitting beside Stephen's bed as I waited for him to wake up. How could I be so concerned for the man now I knew he'd lied to me for so many years? I'd considered leaving Stephen in hospital, but when it came to walking away, I just couldn't. All those years of friendship, they had to mean something... didn't they? I just didn't know and... well, I needed those answers. I needed to know what our friendship had meant to Stephen, if it had meant anything to him at all? And I believed it had, why else would he have put up with me for all those years if it hadn't? I sighed. Maybe that was why I was still here, still watching over him as he slept. I had to know what those years had meant... if... no, not that. Instead I turned my thoughts to the anomaly.

_The Triceratops herd was grazing peacefully and I couldn't help staring at them, their breath misting in the cool dawn light, when I felt Stephen stop beside me, his voice full of awe as he said quietly, “They're beautiful.”_

_I nodded and started to turn towards him as I had hundreds of times before when I'd been about to comment on some discovery or another, when the knowledge that he'd lied to me hit me with the same force the original revelation had. I noticed how Stephen's shoulders had slumped in defeat at my silence and how he'd given me a sharp nod before turning back. Before I could decide what to do all hell broke loose. A dog ran barking towards the herd, a calf bleated in fear and its mother bellowed in anger before charging for the nearest threat. Unfortunately, that meant myself and Stephen and I had a moment to notice how sharp those horns looked when pointed directly at me before the wind was knocked from my lungs. I felt the wind of her passage before gulping down air and rolling to my knees and that was when I noticed the blood._

I remembered the heart stopping moment when I couldn't find Stephen's pulse and then I had barely felt what I thought might have been his heartbeat when Ditzy had shoved me out of the way. I had sat so still, my gaze fixed on Stephen's waxy face as the ambulance had sped down the roads. I had paced the waiting room as I had waited for news, my emotions in turmoil.

An almost silent exhale broke into my thoughts and I looked up to meet Stephen's confused blue eyes, his voice raspy and full of confusion as he asked, “What happened? Where an I?”

My eyebrow shot up at the question and the worry which had begun to fade when he woke grew once more. “Stephen? What do you remember?”

Stephen looked around the room before he shook his head and winced. “Was there an accident, professor?”

“What's the last thing you remember, lad?” I asked gently, somehow reluctant to interrogate my – well, whatever Stephen was now – he had hit his head pretty hard and I had no wish to have an argument with him until I knew he was capable of one. 

Stephen blinked and appeared to concentrate for several minutes, long enough for my concern to grow. “Um. The field trip to the Forest of Dean.”

His answer did little to reassure me, for the anomaly hadn't been anywhere near the forest. Curiosity drove me to ask more rather than follow the sensible course of action and find a doctor. “When was that?” 

“The tenth of May, 1997.” Stephen gave me a worried look before asked, “ What's the date, professor?”

I opened my mouth to answer him before snapping it closed with an audible click as I thought better about answering him. “I think the doctors should talk to you about that.” I patted Stephen's arm before rising. “I'll go and find one for you.” 

“Professor!” Stephen called out. “Please, tell me what's wrong?”

I turned back to him when I heard the fear in his voice, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I think it would be better for the doctors to tell you, Stephen. Let me find one and then I'll tell you what I can. OK?” The look of fear on Stephen's face almost had me relenting, but... I had no idea what to tell Stephen or even if it was safe to do so.

***

I entered Stephen's hospital room and smiled when I saw my... Stephen sitting on his bed, his bag of belongings at his feet. “Ready, Stephen?”

Stephen look up, surprise evident on his face. “Professor? I thought...” His voice trailed off as he remembered he'd lost years of memory. 

I almost sighed and reconsidered my whole offer of looking after Stephen until he got his memory back. I knew he didn't remember our friendship, that as far as he was concerned, I was nothing more than the husband of his supervisor, the one he'd slept with. No, from his reaction, he'd expected Helen to pick him up and... 

I almost smiled. Did I really think he'd admit everything to me if I looked after him? Was I looking for a second chance where he told me rather than Helen outing their affair? Did I really think that would make any difference to what had happened between us, the shattered trust? 

I didn't know but I knew I had to try. For all those years of friendship had to mean something, didn't they?


End file.
